The Localized Application of BSC (Balanced Score Card) in China: Exploration and Practice of Qingdao Municipal Government

It is an inevitable selection for deepening administrative system reform, governmental function transition and reply to cutthroat competition by the local governments of China at present to refer to modern public management theory and apply advanced management instruments in governmental administration practice. Qingdao government is always dedicated to research and exploration of method and measurement for enhancement of governmental working efficiency and improvement of administrative effect. Since 1988, governmental instruction has been  reinforced with  outstanding achievement by  successively  introducing objective management, overall quality management, performance management and benchmarking management. In 2005, BSC, the Balanced Scorecard, the most developed strategic system for measurement and management conforming to scientific development concepts, was used to create high performance governmental work in Qingdao. We endeavor to the establishment of a governing mode as “low cost of administration, strong consciousness of the legal system, high efficiency management, and high quality service”, which has been fully affirmed and recognized by the Organization Department of the Central Committee of the Communist Party, China (CPC) and appraised as  a  model of  reinforcing governmental construction in  the new  era by  the Working Committee for Offices Directly under the Central Committee of the CPC and Working Committee for State Offices also directly under the Central Committee of the CPC, with promotion of sound and rapid development for economic society in Qingdao. In 2006, Qingdao was one of six cities awarded the title of “Golden City” for investment environment, governmental efficiency, indicators for harmonious society among 120 cities assessed by the World Bank

An Improved Empirical Fuel Cell Polarization Curve Model Based on Review Analysis

Based on a review analysis of empirical fuel cell polarization curve models in the literature, an improved model that can predict fuel cell performance with only measured current-voltage data is developed. The fitting characteristics of this new model are validated by fitting bench test data and road test data. In the case of bench test data, a comparison of the new model and two representative models is conducted, and the results show that the new model presents the best fitting effects over a whole range of current densities. Moreover, the fitted ohmic resistances derived from the new model show good agreement with the measured values obtained through a current interruption test. In the case of using road test data, the new model also presents excellent fitting characteristics and convenience for application. It is the author’s belief that the new model is beneficial for the application-oriented research of fuel cells due to its prominent features, such as conciseness, flexibility, and high accuracy

Self‐Assembly of Therapeutic Peptide into Stimuli‐Responsive Clustered Nanohybrids for Cancer‐Targeted Therapy

Clinical translation of therapeutic peptides, particularly those targeting intracellular protein–protein interactions (PPIs), has been hampered by their inefficacious cellular internalization in diseased tissue. Therapeutic peptides engineered into nanostructures with stable spatial architectures and smart disease targeting ability may provide a viable strategy to overcome the pharmaceutical obstacles of peptides. This study describes a strategy to assemble therapeutic peptides into a stable peptide–Au nanohybrid, followed by further self‐assembling into higher‐order nanoclusters with responsiveness to tumor microenvironment. As a proof of concept, an anticancer peptide termed β‐catenin/Bcl9 inhibitors is copolymerized with gold ion and assembled into a cluster of nanohybrids (pCluster). Through a battery of in vitro and in vivo tests, it is demonstrated that pClusters potently inhibit tumor growth and metastasis in several animal models through the impairment of the Wnt/β‐catenin pathway, while maintaining a highly favorable biosafety profile. In addition, it is also found that pClusters synergize with the PD1/PD‐L1 checkpoint blockade immunotherapy. This new strategy of peptide delivery will likely have a broad impact on the development of peptide‐derived therapeutic nanomedicine and reinvigorate efforts to discover peptide drugs that target intracellular PPIs in a great variety of human diseases, including cancer.A strategy for clinical translation of therapeutic peptides by assembling them into a stable peptide–Au nanohybrid, followed by further self‐assembling into higher‐order nanoclusters with responsiveness to the tumor microenvironment, is presented. An anticancer peptide termed β‐catenin/Bcl9 inhibitor is assembled into a cluster of nanohybrids termed pCluster, which potently inhibits tumor growth as well as metastasis, and synergizes with immunotherapy, while maintaining a highly favorable biosafety profile.Peer Reviewedhttps://deepblue.lib.umich.edu/bitstream/2027.42/148246/1/adfm201807736.pdfhttps://deepblue.lib.umich.edu/bitstream/2027.42/148246/2/adfm201807736-sup-0001-S1.pdfhttps://deepblue.lib.umich.edu/bitstream/2027.42/148246/3/adfm201807736_am.pd

Clinical Staging of Amyotrophic Lateral Sclerosis in Chinese Patients

Objective: It is important to explore the utility of clinical staging systems in the management of amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS). Our aim was to assess the validity of King's College in a Chinese ALS cohort, by evaluating the duration and informativeness of each stage and examining the association between stage and prognosis.Methods: From May 2008 to December 2016, patients with a likely diagnosis of ALS were registered. We prospectively assessed the progression of the patients through the stages and calculated the duration of each stage.Results: The median duration in Stage 1 was 12.00 months, Stage 2 7.50 months, Stage 3 6.50 months, and Stage 4 4.10 months. Subset analysis revealed that the spinal-onset and early-onset patients had a longer median time in Stage 1 compared to bulbar-onset and late-onset patients, respectively. Riluzole treatment extended the durations of Stages 1 and 2, and the effect was maintained in patients with long-term use of riluzole (>6 months). Patients who initiated long-term riluzole therapy early, in Stage 1 or 2, had a longer Stage 2. Patients who received percutaneous gastrostomy endoscopy (PEG) or non-invasive positive-pressure ventilation (NIPPV) showed longer durations of Stage 4. The differences in survival time measured from each stage to death or censor date were significant.Conclusions: We validated the King's College staging system in a Chinese population, and showed this system to be useful in clinical practice. Patients with bulbar-onset or an age of onset>45 years tended to have rapidly progressing ALS. Riluzole may be more effective when initiated in an early disease stage and continued long-term. PEG and NIPPV treatments can extend disease duration of Stage 4

Photo scattering signal amplification in gold-viral particle ligation towards fast infection screening

The polarization states of scattered photons can be used to map or image the anisotropic features of a nanostructure. However, the scattering strength depends heavily on the refractivity contrast in the near field under measurement, which limits the imaging sensitivity for viral particles which have little refractivity contrast with their nano-ambientes. In this paper, we show the photon scattering signal strength can be magnified by introducing a more abrupt change of refractivity at the virus particle using antibody-conjugated gold nanoparticles (AuNPs), allowing the presence of such viruses to be detected. Using two different deep learning methods to minimize scattering noise, the photon states scattering signal of a AuNPs ligated virus is enhanced significantly compared to that of a bare virus particle. This is confirmed by Finite Difference Time Domain (FDTD) numerical simulations. The sensitivity of the polarization state scattering spectra from a virus-gold particle doublet is 5.4 times higher than that of a conventional microscope image

Assessment of health status in patients with newly diagnosed chronic obstructive pulmonary disease.

SUBJECT: Chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) is a common disease worldwide. This study aimed to investigate the health status of patients with newly diagnosed COPD. METHODS: A total of 45 healthy controls and 218 patients with newly diagnosed COPD were recruited. Pulmonary function test (PFT) values, COPD assessment test (CAT) scores, exacerbation history, and demographics were recorded. RESULTS: Forced expiratory volume in 1 s percent (FEV1%) predicted was significantly decreased and the CAT score was significantly increased in patients with COPD compared with healthy controls (P <0.001). Among the COPD patients, the most commonly reported respiratory symptoms were cough (86.7%), sputum (80.3%), and dyspnea (45%). A total of 86.2% patients were in the moderate or severe stage (spirometric classification) of COPD, and 71.5% were in Group C or Group D (combined assessment). A total of 33.9% of the patients had 2 or more exacerbations in the previous year. Nearly half of the patients (45.4%) had a high CAT score of ≥ 10. Patients with a history of more exacerbations had a higher CAT score. CONCLUSIONS: Most COPD patients were symptomatic and appeared to have moderate to severe airflow limitation or a high risk of exacerbation before definitely being diagnosed with COPD using the PFT

A method for evaluating the efficiency of PEM fuel cell engine

Efficiency is an important factor to reflect the performance of fuel cell engine (FCE). Evaluating efficiency should consider efficiency properties and common work conditions of FCE. In this paper, output power of FCE on real work conditions is analyzed according to driving cycles, and four efficiency evaluation points are obtained, as well as their weighted values. Then, a scoring function is used to convert the efficiency values of four evaluation points into scores. Multiplying scores by their weighted values and adding them together, we can get overall scores of efficiency properties. This method can evaluate the efficiency performance of FCE reasonably and objectively.PEM fuel cell engine Efficiency properties Evaluation

Effect of Friction Coefficient on Relative Slippage of Fuel Cell Stack under Mechanical Impact Condition

A simplified finite element model for large polymer electrolyte membrane fuel cell (PEMFC) stack consisting of ten cells is established in order to investigate the internal structure deformation. It is found that the interface slippage occurs when the bipolar plate (BP) and membrane electrode assembly (MEA) are subjected to vertical impact acceleration. Based on this three-dimensional model, the influence of the friction coefficient between BP and MEA on the relative slippage can be analyzed efficiently. The division layer of relative slippage is found and its vibration rule is discussed. It is observed that increasing the magnitude of impact vibration has most significant effect on the movement of the division layer, and the two variables are linearly related when impact acceleration is greater than 5 g. This work provides important insight into the choice of the friction coefficient